Kalani Stein

I want her for myself!

Summer has arrived, and I felt like drawing a meadow. The scene is very bright, sweet, and peaceful. I really love the chemistry between Lune and Sciel as old, longtime friends. Even though Lune mentioned that she pushed a lot of people away in the past, their shared experience during the expedition brought them really close. And if I imagine a time when they’re living peacefully and calmly, I can totally see them going on warm, gentle walks together.

This painting doesn’t carry any deep meaning or message — I just wanted to draw a peaceful landscape with Clea. She’s so chaotic and sharp, and I feel like it’s not very easy for her to talk about her deeper feelings or even acknowledge that she has them. That’s why I think she would especially treasure moments of silence and calm, when she doesn’t have to hide anything from anyone.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the cartoon of my childhood. I genuinely believe so many of my core values and perspectives on life were shaped by it. I could literally talk for hours about how amazing this story is and how much I love its characters — but instead, I'm gonna channel that love into this fanart.

I worked on this drawing for an agonizingly long time because I got sick. On top of that, my perfectionism—which I’ve been trying to fight—kicked in. I redrew it an endless number of times, and I still can’t say I’m fully happy with it. But I decided to just finish it and let it go. It’s time for it to finally see the light of day and for me to move on to something new. The idea behind the drawing was to show Clea’s silent support. She’s standing off to the side, only barely touching her sister, but she’s not indifferent. She cares, even if she shows her feelings in her own way.

One of my old works. I still like it. The story of Signalis and Ariana became so personal to me that even a couple of years after I completed the game, I still remember it with sadness and longing. Perhaps it's because the theme of loneliness resonates deeply with me.

My friend looked at this art and pointed out that there’s a parallel between mourning the dead. Maelle is mourning Gustave. On the horizon, you can see Alina’s monolith, mourning Verso. I loved that observation so much!

Every time I sit down to draw yet another expedition member, I think, how the hell am I going to draw their clothes. I love adding lots of small details, but it’s still a pretty difficult and time-consuming process for me. And the hardest part is getting started. When I started drawing Ciel, I thought she would be the easiest one to do. I was wrong.

Ooh la la

Verso was so far the most difficult of all the illustrations in this series. I also want to say that I love him like crazy. It breaks my heart that he ended up at the center of all this family drama. A friend of mine once said that Alina must have drawn him so skillfully and so well — because his copy, just like the original, is ready to sacrifice himself so that the members of his family can keep living. No matter where or how — he would give everything for his family.

I very often imagine, in my daydreams, Alicia waking up in the morning, seeing the snow, and running to her brother to drag him outside and build a snowman. It could be their tradition, one that started a long time ago when they were kids. And even though they’re both adults now, they still keep it alive.

I love her very much.

My friend said that Lune had a haughty look in this drawing. At that moment, I imagined Lune reading another journal from a previous expedition, where people died foolishly because they decided to eat nevrons or dress up as nevrons.

I ordered a collector's edition of an artbook… I collect artbooks and fan artbooks (zin). But my collection isn't very large yet, as I've only been collecting for a short time. When I saw the artbook for Expedition 33, I couldn't resist. This game had become too significant to me, and as a collector, I felt compelled to acquire it. However, I never imagined that I would be able to order a collector's edition. I'm still in shock, but I'm very happy…